''Ornithoptera chimaera'', the chimaera birdwing, is a

birdwing Birdwings are butterflies in the swallowtail family, that belong to the genera ''Trogonoptera'', ''Troides'', and ''Ornithoptera''. Most recent authorities recognise 36 species, however, this is debated, and some authorities include additional ...

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larges ...

. It is found in mountain areas of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, 1000 meters

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The "chimaera" portion of both the scientific and vernacular name, is named after the

Chimaera Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At ...

, Greek: Χίμαιρα, Khimaira, from χίμαρος, khimaros, a creature in Greek mythology, composed of parts of three animals.

Description

''Ornithoptera chimaera'' is sexually dimorphic. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 80–180 mm in females and 70–150 mm in males. Male: The forewings are ground colour black. There are two green areas. The underside of the forewing is green. The margin of the wing is black. The veins are black. There is a chain of little postdiscal internervular black spots on the wing. The hindwing inner part and the edge are black. The other part of the wing is green and contains some large, golden spots and two or more black spots. The underside of the hindwing is green. There are large, golden spots and three black spots. The inner edge is very hairy. The abdomen is bright yellow. Head and thorax are black. The underside of thorax has two red tufts. Female: The female is larger than the male. The general colour of the female is dark brown. There is a chain of white postdiscal spots on the forewings, a discal chain and white subcostal spots. In the discal part of the hindwings there is a large, white area. The outer edge of this white area is yellow. Between the white part and the yellow part there is a chain of black spots.

Subspecies

*''Ornithoptera chimaera chimaera'' *''Ornithoptera chimaera charybdis'' (van Eecke, 1915) *''Ornithoptera chimaera flavidior'' Rothschild, 1913

Type material

The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

is in the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

Biology

''O. chimaera'' is a montane species found in the Central Range montane rainforests. The larvae feed on species of the genus ''

Aristolochia ''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clima ...

'' including ''

Aristolochia momandul ''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clima ...

''. The female lays up to 20 eggs on the leaves. Adults feeds upon the nectar of ''

Spathodea ''Spathodea'' is a genus in the plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species it contains, ''Spathodea campanulata'', is commonly known as the African tulip tree. The tree grows between tall and is native to tropical dry forests of Africa. It ha ...

'' (an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

) and '' Hibiscus''. Groups of both sexes can be seen circling the tops of these trees in the canopy.

Conservation

The chimaera birdwing is listed on

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Appendix II, restricting international trade to those who have been granted a permit.CITES appendices I, II and III
Version 27 April 2011. It is also regarded at ''near threatened'' by the IUCN. The chimaera birdwing is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which serves to regulate the trade in the species or any of its parts by requiring export licences and producing quotas

Gallery

References

# CITES (May, 2005) http://www.cites.org *D'Abrera, B. (1975) ''Birdwing Butterflies of the World''. Country Life Books, London. *Haugum, J. & Low, A.M. 1978-1985. ''A Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies''. 2 volumes. Scandinavian Press, Klampenborg; 663 pp. *Straatman, Raymond; & Schmid, F.,1975 Notes on the biology of ''Ornithoptera goliath'' and ''O. chimaera'' (Papilionidae). ''Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society'' 29: 85-8
pdf
* Thomas Graham Howarth, 1977 A list of the type-specimens of Ornithoptera (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in the British Museum (Natural History) ''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)''. Entomology series 36:153-16
pdf

External links

ARKive
Photos and more information

Images from Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
Nagypal.net
* Consortium for the Barcode of Lifebr>Barcode of Life
Images
Australasia Ecoregions
{{Taxonbar, from=Q23055605

chimaera Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At ...

Butterflies of Oceania Butterflies of Indonesia Lepidoptera of New Guinea Lepidoptera of Papua New Guinea Butterflies described in 1904